FC Dallas signs forward Coy Craft to Homegrown contract

FRISCO, Texas – FC Dallas announced today that it has signed its league-leading 12th Homegrown player to a professional contract. Coy Craft, a forward who joined the FC Dallas Academy in 2011, will be eligible for selection immediately.

Craft joins former FC Dallas Academy players Victor Ulloa (1,204), Moises Hernandez (603), Kellyn Acosta (412), Danny Garcia (282), Richard Sanchez, Jonathan Top and Jesse Gonzalez on the FC Dallas first team roster. Those players have combined to play 2,501 minutes this season, which ranks second in minutes logged by Homegrown players in Major League Soccer in 2014.

“We brought Coy [Craft] into the Academy in 2011 and the coaches did an excellent job fostering his talent to get him to this next level,” said FC Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja. “He’s athletic, but he also has good technical ability. He’s been earning more and more opportunities with the youth national teams and we’re excited to see his potential realized as he continues to mature.”

This season, Craft was part of the FC Dallas U18 team that won its fifth-straight U.S. Soccer Development Academy Texas/Frontier Division title. The squad finished the regular season with a record of 17-4-6. Craft appeared in 22 matches, starting 13 times for the U18s. He led the team in goals scored with 12.